5/20
I’m reading this book, “This Terrible Beauty,” by Katrin Schumann. It is about Germany at the end of WWII and the separation between East and West Germany. It’s mostly about the East, the Russian led side. It travels to America and back again, following a young girls journey until adulthood. Anyway there are a few of her thoughts that have really struck me considering how different the times are now. It seems the thoughts ring true throughout our lifetimes. I totally relate to these feelings as they are also mine. I will quote them because they are related much more eloquently than I ever could.
“Politics ruin the world, can humans ever keep their motives pure”
This is such a pure thought. Unfortunately, we are imperfect humans. All the feelings that lead up to, violence, lies, and fears are driven by greed, power, and hate.
Again, this statement that I highlighted is idealistic in its prose. Nothing is that simple. Being who I am, wanting these things invigorate me and also depress me at he same time. I see it as a reminder of what could be and what is.
Another quote from the same book that reminds me of the time we’re living in now is:
“As for men in power, they are so anxious to establish
The myth of infallibility that they do their utmost to ignore the truth”
Boris Pasternak